Sixteen cooks and would be cooks, chefs and would be chefs came together for a chance to chop, fry, bake and stir their way to the land that PSY (almost) forgot – Korea.

The contest revolved around the distinctive Korean ingredient Kimchi and featured a table laid out with some of the various versions of this pickled delight (and yes – you may have thought – like I once did – there was only a single type of Kimchi).

Belated congratulations to all the contestants – it was my first time in one of these reality TV cooking contests (Korean TV was there) and was such an intense buzz.

Met some genuinely lovely people that day! :-} Gave me a new appreciation for fellow newbie folk trying their hand in shows such as #MyKitchenRules and #MasterChef. (hash tag appropriate)

The brief was simple – cook a “signature” dish – with Kimchi as the feature ingredient. This produced some fascinating and (at least of the ones I sampled) delicious dishes. Here are the entries – alphabetised by first name.

Unfortunately I was unable to obtain photos of all the entries. If your signature kimchi dish is missing – please email me steve@stjamespharmacy.com.au or tweet @steveskorean or plus me up on Google http://goo.gl/9dwGe7

If you would like to forward a brief description of your dish (140 characters) I’ll post that, too!

This year, the results favoured my family (My son and daughter came 1st and 2nd, winning $90)

Given this good fortune, my wife Sandra and I have chosen to donate the money to the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse at RPA. Click on the photo to get more information.
We picked the Lifehouse at RPA because Sandra is walking 60 km this weekend (9th-10th November, 2013) to “change the world”.

Sandra Grant – owner at St James Pharmacy – is walking to end women’s cancer.

“My mother Maria was a survivor. She was one of the bravest souls I have ever met. Sadly, non hodgkins lymphoma took her life after a battle of fifteen years. She taught me about courage and tenacity, and the will to live for the sake of her family”
Please donate by clicking here.